A total prize fund of $250,000 is up for grabs in this year’s championship with the fifth and final round taking place with the showpiece Virtual Le Mans 24 Hours next January. As the teams and drivers get set for Monza, it’s the Floyd Vanwall-Burst and Oracle Red Bull Racing outfits who will be hoping to repeat their class victories from the season-opening round held last month.
After 269 thrilling laps around the Bahrain International Circuit, Jesper Pedersen, Jernej Simončič and Damian Skowron took the chequered flag by a little over eight seconds from the second-placed R8G Esports team after eight hours of racing. And another close encounter is expected at Monza as racers compete on the rFactor 2 simulation platform in partnership with LEGO® Technic™ in addition to Studio 397 and Motorsport Games.
Monza is the spiritual home of the legendary Ferrari name and it’s appropriate the track guide for the second round of the Virtual Le Mans Series features LEGO® Technic™ versions of the stunning new Ferrari Daytona SP3 alongside the Ferrari 488 GTE “AF Corse #51”.
Built in the 1920s in a royal park on the outskirts of the Italian city of Milan, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza is one of the oldest and most-famous racing circuits in the world. Renowned for its long straights, fast speeds and tricky chicanes, the only engineering setup suitable for this course is low downforce to reduce drag for maximum straight-line speed.
With three long straights and just 11 corners, Monza enjoys one of the highest average speeds on the schedule. Across the four-hour event, drivers can expect to average 112.4mph (191km/h) and will top 175.7mph (282.7km/h) on the start/finish straight. Braking from such high-speed requires immense stopping power for the tight Turn 1 chicane, known as the Rettifilo. In an LM GTE car up to 80kg of braking force will be required to slow the cars down for the right-left kink.
While braking is critical, so too is traction, and three of the most important corners on the lap precede a long straight. Whether it’s the fast right-handed second Lesmo, the exit from the Ascari chicane or the Curva Alboreto — formerly known as the Parabolica — drivers need to ensure they don’t make an error at these bends to carry their speed along the entire straight that follows. One mistake and they will risk conceding a position to a rival behind.
There will be added interest on Ferrari in the Italian round of this year’s Le Mans Virtual Series and the tifosi watching online will be cheering on the famous scarlet-coloured sportscars as they battle for superiority against their class rivals. Once again strategy will be key as teams fight their way to the front over the four-hour encounter.
You can follow all the action for the second-round of the virtual sim racing competition on 8 October on the WEC, Le Mans 24 Hours and Traxion.GG online channels. The Le Mans Virtual Series is a partnership between Motorsport Games and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) the organisers of the famous Le Mans 24 Hours and features LEGO Technic as an official partner.
